


Between Two Lungs

by AishiteSubete



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Love Triangles, Not Canon Compliant, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 12:57:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3120971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AishiteSubete/pseuds/AishiteSubete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The odds are not in Cato's favor; he is infatuated with the Girl on Fire, knowing she can only ever see him as a bloodthirsty Career.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Two Lungs

 

**|[Between Two Lungs]|**

_Katniss Everdeen._

  
He knew of her before he even laid eyes on her in person, as his train made the short ride from District 2 to the Capitol. Clove sat beside him, her feet propped carelessly on the table (much to their escort's dismay) as they watched a recap of that day's reaping. Cato held a small degree of respect for Katniss Everdeen because of the way she volunteered for her sister; though volunteering for the Games was something many strove to do in his district, he understood that it was the ultimate sacrifice in others--an assured death sentence.

  
"They'll never shut up about that," Clove hissed, motioning for their escort to fast-forward through the reaping of the District 12 tributes. "She'll be a crowd favorite, that's for sure," she added with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "Well, whatever. It's not like anyone from District Twelve could be much competition."

  
Cato didn't answer her, trying to ignore the fact that her eyes were trained on him for even the slightest hint of approval. Being three years older than her, he had mentored Clove in some areas when she first started training for the games at the age of twelve; he had come to believe, in the last few months, that she fancied him, though the sentiment was entirely one-sided and not reciprocated in the least. Clove finally looked back to the screen to watch the reaping from District 10, and the image of Katniss Everdeen volunteering for her sister wouldn't leave Cato's mind.

* * *

She was breathtaking at the night of the parade, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

  
His stylist, a woman with mint-green hair, named Lyra, coughed loudly to regain his attention; he snapped back into reality, stepping onto his chariot. It was impossible to miss the glare Clove was boring him with. The young girl looked back to Katniss, her eyes narrowing imperceptibly, and Cato became positive she had seen the way he looked at her. He swore internally, knowing that Clove would target her specifically, as if drawing Cato's attention was a crime punishable by death.

  
When the parade had ended and the tributes were dismounting their chariots, Cato succumbed to temptation and sneaked another look at Katniss Everdeen, hoping to see in person--not on computer screens--the intensity of how she looked covered in black pleather and flames.

  
He was completely entranced, and his eyes watched her long after the flames went out.

* * *

Katniss Everdeen appeared to be a quiet girl with no clear skills; she spent most of her time tying knots, starting fires, learning camouflage, and refreshing her knowledge on edible plants. Despite her intimidating, fearsome, and altogether intense look during the tribute parade, Cato began to piece together that she would not be a directly combative tribute--no, she would attempt to outlast them all with survival skills, watching as they killed each other off or died of natural causes until she was crowned the victor.

  
When Peeta threw the training dummy after what was most likely her suggestion--something he hadn't even known Peeta was capable of doing--he began to wonder if Miss Everdeen was hiding a few tricks up her sleeves. It was a common practice. Many tributes would hide their primary skills until their private sessions, then go out swining with what they were best at. Cato was not sure anything Katniss could do would merit a very high score. With her short stature and small figure, she would be an easy target in any sort of hand-to-hand combat; living in the poorer districts, where access to weaponry was forbidden, she wouldn't have the knowledge or expertise to use a ranged weapon, like a bow. Even though Peeta would prove to be a useful ally, Cato calculated that Katniss Everdeen, despite her ferocity, would be a weak target.

  
Cato realized he miscalculated when her training score of eleven was broadcast fo all the districts to see.

  
Clove threw her glass cup across the room, watching it shatter against a wall. Clove, who had recieved a ten in training, just as he did, was clearly unhappy about the results of the traning scores; even Cato furrowed his brow, perplexed as to how Katniss recieved a score so high. Clove was clearly consumed by the fires of jealousy. "There is _no way_ some emaciated rat from District 12 outscored me," she screeched. "I've been training for this for _three years_ \--what has she been doing, huh? Washing clothes and taking out tesserae just to scrape by another day?" She gave a derisive snort. "That isn't even _fair!_ "

  
"Tell me about it," Cato said, making sure his voice carried a tone of outrage as opposed to admiration and curiosity for whatever her skill was. "You're upset because you've been training for this for three years, but I've been training for _six_ and even _volunteered_ for these games, and some girl from District 12 comes in and outscores me?" He huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch. In reality, he was only  _mildly_ agitated by this fact--it would get under anyone's skin that someone with no formal training outscored someone with six years. Even his agitation, though, made him want to know what Katniss's skill was and how she acquired it in a place like District 12.

  
When Clove finished her tantrum, she brushed a few strands of dark, brown hair from her eyes and sidles up beside Cato, comfortably throwing an arm around his shoulder; he remains stoic and gives the action no response. "I'm sure you'll kill her just as easily as the others," Clove reassures him, though it isn't something Cato wants to think about doing just yet. There was something about Katniss that intrigued him, something that made him want her to stay alive. "And if I get her first, well...I'll take the time to savor the kill," she chuckled darkly.

* * *

When Peeta disclosed what happened in Katniss's private session, Cato suddenly understood two things and the world began to make sick, twisted sense in his own mind.

  
First and foremost, he understood why Katniss recieved the score she did; if the girl from District 12 was simply arbitrarily shooting in the Gamemakers' box out of anger, it would not have hit the apple in the pig's mouth so precisely. No, it was a calculated move on her part--she had intentionally shot the apple, had targeted it before she had even notched the arrow. It was an intentional shot, and that made her a good marksman--which made her a mixture of both lethally dangerous and alluringly strong.

  
Secondly, Cato understood that his infatuation with Katniss was changing and morphing, slowly transforming from a curious interest to genuine, budding care. He swallowed the water from his canteen as he looked up at Katniss, sitting high in the boughs of the tree. He knew Katniss could never care for his safety, was not curious to know more about him as a person. Cato knew that Katniss saw him only as a career tribute--nothing more, nothing less, and certainly not as something to care about.

* * *

When Clove pins down Katniss at the feast, he's paralyzed with indecision.

  
He had two options--killing Clove to ensure Katniss's guaranteed survival, to ensure that she would live until it was just the two of them in that arena, or letting Clove kill Katniss, which would be a bloody process, the arena being filled with Katniss's screams as Clove tortured her to death. Cato knew that Clove was aware of his fixation on her, and knew that she resented Katniss for it; he knew that, because of his attraction to her, Clove was going to torture her for sure.

  
He didn't have the opportunity to choose between killing Clove or letting Katniss die; Thresh stepped onto the scene before he could. "Cato!" Clove screamed; he watched, terrified, as the tribute from District 11 held Clove up by her neck. "Cato!"

  
"Clove!" he shouted in respose. He knew that he could save her--he knew that he could rush in there to save Clove, and that the girl on fire might even notch an arrow to help take down Thresh; this late in the games, anyone is fair choosing, regardless of alliances or rivalries. But he knew, deep inside, that saving Clove from Thresh's clutches would ensure Katniss's death by the knife thrower's hands.

  
In the end, he chose to let Katniss live, if only for a little while longer, if only to be killed by his own hand.

* * *

By the time he had Peeta in a headlock on the Cornucopia, with mutts with human eyes rearing up to reach them, he knew there was no chance at all of the two of them being anything more than enemies. It was something he knew he should have realized a while ago, when Peeta fought him to protect her. Cato should have known there was something going on between the two from District Twelve, something that would have implied that he wouldn't have had a chance anyway. "I can still do this," he said, holding back a pained laugh. "I can still do this."

  
Katniss's bow was pointed directly at him, but it was when Peeta marked his hand with blood that he knew he was finished. He did not have time to react before he was shot and Peeta had shouldered him off the Cornucopia. He ended up being killed by Katniss's arrow, not the mutts.

  
At least the girl on fire was merciful to him.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Cato always shot some weird looks at Katniss in the first Hunger Games film, and I've always wondered if there was a bit more behind it than what we saw or what was stated in the books.
> 
> Though the tribute guide says Cato was 16, I used his film age of 18 to make things run a bit less awkwardly.


End file.
